Machine for centering nipples and punching vent openings therethrough



Aprll 10, 1956 P. A. RAICHE 2,741,311

MACHINE FOR cEN-EERINc NIPPLES AND PUNCHING VENT OPENINGS THERETHROUGH Filed March 20, 1952 e Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Apnl 10, 1956 P. A. RAICHE 2,741,311

MACHINE FOR CENTERING NIPPLES AND PUNCHING VENT OPENINGS THERETHROUGH Filed March 20, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fl G. 2 mmvroa PM a 11% ATTOR NEY Apnl 10, 1956 P. A. RAlCHE 2,741,311

MACHINE FOR CENTERING NIPPLES AND PUNCHING VENT OPENINGS THERETHROUGH Filed March 20, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY April 10, 1956 RAICHE 2,741,311

MACHINE FOR CENTERING NIPPLES AND PUNCI-IING VENT OPENINGS THERETHROUGH 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 20, 1952 INVENTOR.

ATTORN EY April 10, 1956 P. A. RAICHE 2,741,311 MACHINE FOR CENTERING NIPPLES AND PUNCHING VENT OPENINGS THERETHROUGH Filed March 20, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 H g D 65 7 "I 1:

% i I 2 FIG. 8

\lllififii INVENTOR.

7 M 0. fCAZIL BY ATTORNEY April 10, 1956 P. A. RAICHE MACHINE FOR CENTERING NIPPLES AND PUNCHING VENT OPENINGS THERETHROUGH 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed March 20, 1952 INVENTOR. p /4 ATTORNEY MACHINE FOR CENTERING NIPPLES AND PUNCHING OPENINGS THERE- THROUGH Paul.A.;Raiche, North Providence,'R. L, assignorto Dayol Rubber Company, a ,cQrporation of :Rhode :lslan Application-March 20,'-1952,-.Serial'-No. 277,574 7 Claims. (Cl.164-87) The present invention relates to thegrnanufactuge of n n rlewm e ra t rv e fst t i -th @9 structionof a machinefor punching vent openingstherethrough. f

'Iheprincipal'objecLof-the inventionis to provide a novel machine for centerin g nipplesand punching vent openings therethroughQ A further object of the invention is to provide mechanism for separating nipples which are properly punched o i iv Y P nch n pples. Y

Ano ther objection of ithe invention is to provide ,a machine into which nippleshaving a-base flange groove areinserted andindexed, the nipples beingsuccessively aligned in 'punch receivingposition, .then mechanically nsp cted n n he -ej c e t a s or g co ta ne With the above and other objectsand advantageous features in view, the invention consists of'a; novel arrangement'of parts-more fully diselosed v in the detaileddescripthe w ng m iunct qn -w h c mp nyins raw n an -mor pe a ly fin in t cl im appended thereto. I

-. In the; drawings,

;F 1 i a ele a on ia Pr erre cons ru tio p smachin embodyi th /i ven io Pa t be ns in section;

; .Fig. 2 is aside. elevation thereof;

i 1' n enl :front yiewo heal gn ngtpunchns i sp ct je andme hanica is r inssm s m -P t be ng omi e -t ea nes n 4 i at 1 1 n o fig- 3;

Fig.- 5 is anzeularged sectionaldetail -of the aligning mec m;

Fig. 6 is an'enlarged sectional detailofsthepunching me h sm. and h a o as e es en e nae emcm, t groove centering m h ism be ng hqvz -i ent ing position;

Fig. 7 is a section on, the line-7+7 Q1-.F,ig. 4,.-.the punch being in punchingrelation to a nippl e Fig. 8 is adetail viewt of the ventppening inspection p Fig. 9 is a detail view of the nipple ejector, thet nipple be ngshowninpa y-ei edPos n;

f s- 10 sa p i fatnn ched n ppl p rtly i section;

e' s a s pla view the eo Fig. 12 is an enlargedsectional.detailpn thetline 12-12 of Fig. 11;. and

Fig. 13 isa schematic diagramlof thehydraulic operating circuit.

The nipples towhich the presentinyentionrelates are of the base'flange type, which are adaptedtobemounted on the neck of a medium mouth nnrsing-bottleand, releasbly l k ine-pl by a re ining' o ar thread d vem gaging the bottleneck. :ThQaPreferred nippleconstruc tion includes a groove or recess in the lower surface of the base flange, and a vent opening centeredin the groove or recess andextendingthroughthe adjacent base flange material.

itfhasbeen found desirable-to provide a machine for receivingnipples tobe punched with a vent: opening, which turns the received nipplesto orient; them in p'u' 'richingposi tio'n, centersthe'nipple base groove, an d t hen,

United States Patent-- 0 after punching, checksthenipplesandejects properly punched nipples to a storage container and improperly punched nipples to a reject nipple container. To this end,.'I havefdevised a punching machine into which the nipples are inserted, and which then completes all the operations automatically.

Referring to the drawings, the novel machine '10 includesa suitable support llon which the working parts are mounted, these parts including a machine frame 12 in which a power shaft 13 is rotatably mounted, the shaft receiving power through a fly-wheel pulley 14, a belt 15, a pulley .16,.and a' cross shaft 17 operatively geared to a motor 18through a suitable reduction gear assembly 19.

The indexing mechanism The nipples to be punched are indexed by a rotor disk 20, see Fig. 4, whic h is 'rotatably mounted on the sup;- ports 11, and has a number of peripheral nipple rejceiving through openings-21 which include an upper flange recess 22, a smaller cylindrical body recess 23, and a lower enlarged recess 24. Theflange and body recesses have diametrically opposite channels .25 which lead directly to the lower recess 24, for permitting ejecting movement of an offset blade ejector as hereinafter described, these channels being angularly inclined as illustrated to become aligned with the offset blade ejector as hereinafter described, these channels being angularly inclined as illustratedto become-aligned with the ofis et ejector blade.

The rotor tdisk-2flhasa tapered upper peripheral surface 26 and anoverhandinggflange 2 7, and a cylindrical lower peripheralsurface 28,;and has a series of spaced peripheral notches or slots 2 9 asshown inFig. 3, the lower portions of the slots .2 9,periodically; receiving the end 30 of a pawl 31 pivoted at 32 to a horizqntal rack 33,

secured to thesouter end of the shaftv 13, see :Fig, l. The

rack 33 has its lowerge dguidein a housin'gi43, see Fig. ,4.

A rotor ;disk. stop is provided, comprisingxa lever .44 pivoted at.,45 to, the support ,11 and having, a finger ;46 adapted to successively seat in the upper portions of the peripheralrotor. slots 29. The outer end 47 of the lever 44Iisresiliently pressedhy a movable springfpressed p1unger. 48 seated in asuitable bore in-Ihe-h uSingA-S, andv seats in a;slot 49 of the rack 33, anda stopbladeTSl) isfixed to the lever .44 andextends below thefiange 27 of;.the rotoridiskrashereinafter described. vAs the'rotor diskjsindexed by thepawl 3.1,the linger 46 rides on the rotor periphery and enters the slots 29 to prevent backlash.

The nipple orienting mechanism Thenipple orienting mechanism is shown in Figs. 3 and 5, and includes'a gearcylinder. 51 mountedon' a piston rod 52 of a hydraulic motor 53. Attached to the lowerjend offthe gear cylinder 51 is'a-support' plate 52a apertured to permit outward resilient movement of an oliset'lplunger 53carrying a terminal pin "54 and housedini'a shell555 secured tothe plate 52a,-the shell 55 having a compression spring. 56* which pressesdown I on -the plunger-"53. A re'ciprbc'able rack57 is mounted for intermittently reciprocation by the piston rod of a hydraulic cylinder 58, the rack beingprovided with a housing guide'59.

At each dwell of the rotor disk, .the gearSl moves down to engage the-plunger pin 54 with the surface of the'base'flan'ge- 60 of a'rnipplei-which had previously been insertedin -the opening 21 of 'the rotor-dish with subsequent operations.

its flange uppermost and the flange groove unoriented with respect to the disk and" the subsequent piercing and inspecting operations, and the rack 57 advances'to turn the'gear 51 and theplunger pin until the plunger pin.

. rotation,

. T he piercing mechanism The oriented nipple is now indexedby therotor disk to a dwell position directly-under a compression spring type punch 63, see Fig.7, which has a replaceable depending'piercing pin 64, the punch being actuated by an eccentric mechanism 65 mounted on the power-shaft Since the nipple groove 62 must be positioned directly under thepie'rcing.pi m aii aligning triangular finger 66 is mounted on a spring wire 67,"see Fig. 6, the outerend of'the spring wire being adjustably'secured in a slot 68 of a bracket 69 secured to the punch 63, whereby the finger 66 first enters the groove 62 as the punch descends.- The rotor disk, see Fig. 7, has its flange 27 overhanging the-upper inclined portion 26, whereby a rotatably settable die element 7% which has an upper disk 71 with pin receiving openings 72, which maybe of difierent sizes to cooperate with piercing pins of different sizes, may be mounted to underlie the punch piercing pin 64, whereby a vent opening 73 is punched in the groove area. The

finger 66.preliminarily contacts the groove 62 and keeps the'nipple and its groove'steady for the impact of the piercing pin'and during the initial withdrawal of the piercing pin, and thus prevents lifting of the nipple on 'the ascendingpiercing' pin. I

Veni inspection mechanism The rotor ,disk now indexes to a dwellposition under a vent inspection mechanism 74, see Fig. 3, which is mountedon the punch bracket69 and thus descends j with the punch. The mechanism 74 includes a microimproperly pierced, the groove would not be in position to be'entered by the feeler finger, whereupon the feeler finger'is pressed upwardly by the base flange to actuate the microswitch and thus initiate mechanism to reject the improperly pierced nipple. The properly pierced nipple is thus inspected and passed.

The ejecting machanism The rotor disk now indexes to a dwell position with the pierced, inspected nipple directly below an ejector mechanism-8G, see Figs. 3 and 9; The ejector mechanism 39 includes a bladefiL-preferably bifurcated as illustrated, which ,is. adjnstably mounted on the. piston rod of a hydraulic'mo'tor. 82 mounted on the frame. 11. The blade '81 is reciprocated' throughthe'slots 25in 87 by a swinging" 1i'nk91, and the outer wall or the chamber 84 is'therefore provided with an arcuate slot 92 to permit the arcuate movement.

The hydra tlih'operating system The preferred'hydraulic operating system is shown in Fig. 13, and includes a hydraulic inflow conduit 93 hav ing a stop valve 94 and traps 95, 96, regulating valves 97, 98, a pressure tank 99, and operating valves 100, 1 31, and 102 for the turn gear aligning motor 53, the rack motor 58, and the ejector motor 82, the control valves being operated by cams 103 on a cam drum 104 keyed to the power shaft 13. A separate solenoid oper ated valve 105 controls the ejector gate motor 88 for.

shifting the gate 87 to rejectposition on actuation of the inspection micro-switch mechanism 74. Other con trol volv'es, traps, drainage cocks and the like may be provided as required for cfiicienthydraulic operation.

Operationof the meciiimisin 7 I The operation of the .novel piercing apparatus is believed clear. An operator places the nipples in succession in the rotor disk openings, and the rotor disk indexes and periodically dwells; in each dwell period, one nipple is turned intopiercing position, one nipple is punched after being position gauged, one nipple is inspected, and one nipple is ejected. The machine 'is thus automatic in action, improperly punched nipples being rejected to a special container. I Y

Although I have disclosed a specific' embodimentof the invention, it is obvious that changes in the size, shape, and operation of theparts may be made to meet differentnipple punching and piercing requirements, and to adaptthe machine to punching and piercing operations foi' other articles, without departing from the spirit or the scopeof the invention as defined inthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. A piercing apparatus for nipples having 'a base flange with a groove on the lower surface of the flange, comprising a rotatable disk-having spaced openings for receiving nipples therein with their flanges uppermost,- the nipple grooves being unoriented with respect to the disk, means for indexing the disk to bring the nipples to successive dwell points, 'means to rotate the'nipple; in its opening at the first'dwellpoint and orient the groove at a predetermined point on the disk, means at another dwell point to pierce the nipple through the oriented groove, and means at another dwell point to eject the pierced nipple from the disk.

2. In the combination of claim 1, means for holding the nipple steady during the piercing operation.

3. In the combination of claim 2, means for inspecting. the pierced nipple.

4. In the combination of claim 3, said inspection means 6. In the combination of claim 5, said ejecting means comprising a reciprocable blade adaptedfto enter the nipple and thrust the entered nipple through the disk.

the rotor nipple openings 21, guided by a fixed .U-guide.

81a to .thrust the pierced inspected nipples :through the.

rotor diskinto a passage 83'leading toa chamber 84,

see Fig: 3. .The chamber .83 has two outlet'conduits 85,,

86, which have a swinging control gate 87 actuated by a hydraulic motor 83, whereby the pierced-nipplesare selectively dropped into a. finished product container 89 The piston rod of the motor 88 is connected to the gate I 7. In'the combination of claim '6, said ejecting means having an ex'it'gate shiftable inaccordance with the extent of movement of the inspection feeler finger to selectivelyguide the ejected nipple to said receptacle; i.

' References Cited in'the'file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 524,610 Richards Aug..14, 1894 1,144,045 Mahoney June 2 2, 1915 1,779,641 Rockwood Oct. 28, 1930- l, 9 3 2,57l 1 Blood Oct. 31, 1933 2,564,354.; Conner; Aug., 14, 1 951 2,566,243

Nyquist Aug. 28,, 1951 

